Utilities, such as, electrical utilities, water utilities, or the like, are often required to implement efficiency programs, such as energy efficiency programs that may be designed to reduce the energy consumption or peak demand of their consumers. Often the utilities are required to commit to specified efficiency (e.g., energy reduction) targets. In some cases, utilities that fail to meet these reduction targets may be subject to sanctions and/or fines imposed by one or more regulatory agencies.
Efficiency programs, such as energy efficiency programs may take many forms and may involve multiple projects. Some of these projects may include retrofitting existing facilities to reduce demand for and/or consumption of services, such as electricity, water, natural gas, or the like. Projects may be directed to some or all of the various types of facilities that receive services from the utility, such as, single family housing, multi-family housing, commercial buildings, manufacturing facilities, or the like. Efficiency programs may be required to undergo an evaluation to determine if they met the efficiency targets that were promised or expected by the utility or required by the body regulating the utility. If the programs fail to meet the promised or expected reduction targets, the utility may be subject to additional regulatory scrutiny or potentially even fines or other sanctions.
Given current approaches, it may be difficult for utilities to evaluate programs while the programs are being implemented. Thus, utilities usually wait until a program is completed before determining if the program's targets have been met. Accordingly, it may be difficult for utilities to determine whether their programs need to be modified to meet their targets during the implementation, or how they might improve the performance of programs at meeting the relevant targets. Thus, utilities may be liable for severe fees and sanctions if the programs fall short, or they may over-engineer the program/projects to mitigate the risk of falling short of their targets. Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the invention has been made.